Happy Independence Day!

Feels good to celebrate it in Seattle.

First up - an Apricot Ale at the Pyramid Beer Garden. Ah, memories!

The beer reminds me of the summer I lived in Greenlake and my friend Angela suggested I try an Apricot Ale. I was like, Seriously? She said, Yes. God, I love this beer. The beer garden reminds me of many, many Seattle memories.

Also - how cute does LZ look preggers?!

Batter Up: Safeco Garlic French Fries!

Just as DELICIOUS as I remember them. I think I inhaled all them in under 10 minutes. An awesome micro Pacific Northwest brew to accompany them. If I can determine my version of heaven - both of these exist in it.

Good to See You Again Safeco:

Even Bailey had his stars on:

It's not the 4th in Seattle without Gasworks Parks Fireworks:

It was a great 4th.

It Arrived!

I had been waiting for Stefanie and Eric's wedding invitation and I'm so excited that it arrived!

Look how pretty it is:

Yay for High School Friends: The Brunch Edition

Basically it was dessert for breakfast, DE-LIC-IOUS!

I had a lovely brunch yesterday with my friend Matt and his friends. We ate at Bocca Lupo in BK and it was pure deliciousness. I definitely recommend it. Everyone enjoyed their meal. FYI - most options are egg-based meals.

I had a nutella and banana heated panini with homemade whip cream. It made me almost cream somewhere else (sorry - couldn't help myself! oops - that's another pun. I'm channeling Tawna right now).

It was a pretty great Sunday. Amazing meal, good company and some eye candy. An indisputably good looking guy walked in and we all stared.

Thanks for a lovely time hanging out on Sunday Matt.

Yay for High School Friends!

This week started out sh-tty and only got worse.

I am always so excited when my friend Sara from high school has to come to New York for work. Considering the hot mess I found myself in this week, I was really grateful that she was in town.

She was a bright spot and a burst of energy during this bleak week.

Even though I had some school to do (after the first day back of course) Monday night, I needed to be around a friend more.

We had a glass of wine at Bryant Park and then grabbed dinner at a pub. It was SO good to see her. Between the new job, a mixed signals guy and life, I really needed someone to talk to.

She was definitely the right person for it :).

Last night we went to Cafeteria had a delicious dinner, shared a carafe of sangria (so much cheaper than ordering separately), made friends with our dining neighbors and overall had a bad ass time. Our conversation was one of those rare blends that can only come about if you've known someone for a very long time.

We talked about some random yet appropriate high school memories (while debating dessert she remembered that's all I ordered for dinner when we went out to eat before Junior Prom), what's going with our lives right (mostly work and a little bit about boys - although we mostly covered that on Monday), and the right now - our delicious dinner.

Thanks for turning around a shitty week Sara. And being my cheerleader; in the best way.

On Happiness

I was in a not-so-great place a couple of months ago and came to the conclusion that I was scared to be happy. Sidebar: I am happy these days :)

My reason?

I don't know how I would handle it if I was unbelievably happy and it all went away.
OR
What would I do if I did everything to be happy but wasn't?

These conclusions lead to several discussions with my close friends. Some friends said that it was common fear; not unusual at all. One friend said that her father told her that she was scared to be happy/wouldn't let herself. Then a very wise friend make a valid point: that it is ridiculous.

Well, she didn't say that exactly.

She basically said that even when you are really happy and all the pieces are in place, something will still come up. That perpetual happiness is a myth. I already knew this and I needed a reminder.

I'm not scared to be happy anymore. I am also taking an active role to do things that make me happy.
Brad Pitt summed it up nicely, too (via THR):

"This idea of perpetual happiness is crazy and overrated, because those dark moments fuel you for the next bright moments; each one helps you appreciate the other," he says. "We are all searching for meaning in our lives, love and betterment for ourselves and those around us."

Yay for Work Friends!

I've been at my new job for just over a month and I never thought I'd say this but I miss my old job. Not all parts of it but I have been really missing my peeps at Mercent.

I didn't realize just how lucky I was to befriend Courtney, Casey, Jenni, Chris F., Sam and Summer because they are great people and we became friends quickly. Miss you guys!

I knew how lucky I was to have them but I took for granted how quickly we were friends. As it stands right now I haven't made any friends at my new job :( but I actively took a chance today and it paid off.

I reached out to PB and he said yes and then invited KB (his co-admin) - so yay!!! I am excited to finally get to hang out with co-workers. Thursday should be fun - happy hour with co-workers and a free concert with Rebec.

Side note - PB has the same name of as one of my ex-boyfriends, they kind of look alike and they both used in work at newspapers. Not terribly important but you know how I am about coincidences - I can get a little obsessed. 

Awful, Miserable Motherf***ing Week

If anyone has had an awful or miserable week feel better that the following things didn't happen to you:

1. Dealt with unorganized real estate agents and brokers
2. Rushed out of work early to sign lease and get keys only to be denied
3. Accidentally threw away your paycheck
4. Waited in live for over an hour to get a u-haul for 2 days in a row
5. Moved a bunch of s**t down 4 flights of stairs (1st day)
6. Moved a bunch of s**t up 3 flights of stairs (1st day)
7. Moved everything again - down 3 flights up, up 6 but in an elevator (Thank God)
8. Moved until past midnight two nights in a row
9. Woke up at 6 am to return the u-hauls 2 days in a row
10. Have only slept 9 hours in 2 days
11. Got 3 parking tickets
12. Lost cat and sobbed all afternoon at work (found him Thank God)
13. Sliced your middle finger three times and bruised it by accidentally getting too close when trying to turn off your fan
14. Find out the a**holes at BofA have put a hold on your account until 5 pm PST when you live on the east coast
15. Essentially that means you're broke until 8 pm

But HUGE thanks to my amazing friends, Rebecca Estomago, Jeff Douse and Jeff Broadwell, for getting me through it and helping me. I don't know what I would have done without your help and I probably couldn't have done it. I kept saying I couldn't wait for the next 24 hours to be over, then that turned into 48 hours, and now I need it to be 8 pm here so I have access to my funds! FML

Last Weekday Trip to Beantown!

Guess what we did?

My First Yankee Game!

My First Trip to the Beach!

In New York that is. I've never woken up so early in my entire life to go to the beach as I did when I traveled with Leila to Long Beach. It started off foggy but turned into a beautiful day. I was a baby about getting into the water at first but it wasn't as cold as it was first (reminded of my home beaches) and I turned into a fish pretty soon. It was so great to swim in the ocean.

Sandy and windblown on my way back to
the city!

Chicago Part 1

Chicago!

I tried staying awake all night only to miss my connecting flight but I made it to Chicago in one piece and was SO excited to meet Caitlin and Dustin at the airport. It was so, so good to see them. Like coming home in a way that it is whenever you see good friends.

We got the rental car and headed straight to Wrigley Field. We got deep dish pizza first - turns out the restaurant advertises at Wrigley Field (see the photo below).

We got to our hotel that night and went to Taco Bell for dinner and Target and bought tickets for Harry Potter 7, Part 2. Cait and I got drinks and met up with the wedding party later that night. Then the next day we went to Navy Pier before getting ready for Kelly and Tim's wedding.

Baby You're a Firework!

It's my first 4th of July in NYC. While I didn't spend it at the beach the way I wanted to, I still got to see one of the most amazing firework displays. And I got to see them exactly as I wanted to - with Erica, Johnny and Justin on their roof with a cold six pack of cider on deck. So to everyone:

Happy 4th of July!